Architectural wonder as great as Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower: Mohammed

rchitectural wonder as great as Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower: Mohammed
Selects design for new tower in Dubai Creek area
By Wam & Parag Deulgaokar
Published Sunday, February 07, 2016

Sheikh Mohammed visited a show held at Burj Khalifa, displaying designs by six consultancy companies bidding for the designing package of the tower contract. (Supplied)

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Saturday reviewed the designs proposed by international consultancy houses for a new tower to be built by Emaar in the Dubai Creek area.

This came during Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to a show held at Burj Khalifa, displaying designs by six consultancy companies bidding for the designing package of the tower contract.

He said the march for sustainable development in the UAE is moving steadily to meet the aspirations of the Emirati people and described the new tower as an “architectural wonder that will be as great as Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower”.

Al Abbar thanked Sheikh Mohammed for his continuous support and his confidence in Emaar’s projects.

He said the new tower will prove to be a cultural and tourist icon with its unique design and engineering, adding that the construction of the tower will begin in a few months’ time.

Tower directly linked to Dubai Creek Harbour

The tower will be part of the multi-billion-dollar Dubai Creek Harbour in Dubai Creek.

It has been designed by Santiago Calatrava Valls, a Spanish/Swiss architect, who has worked on the World Trade Centre Transportation Hub in New York, Chicago Spire Tower, Calgary Peace Bridge and the Olympic Sports Complex in Athens. The height of the tower has not been revealed.

The developer said that the design was short-listed from a competitive international design pitch.

The tower, which has not been named yet, will be directly linked to the central island district of Dubai Creek Harbour, a six million square metre mixed-use development.

The mega project will house 3,664 office units, eight million square feet of retail space, 39,000 residential units and 22 hotels with 4,400 rooms, while the centerpiece will be the ‘Dubai Twin Towers’ that will be the tallest twin towers in the world.

Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, built by Emaar, has the world’s highest observation deck – ‘At The Top, Burj Khalifa Sky’ – on the 148th floor (555 metres). It has two other observation decks on 24th floor and 125th floor.

A number of other mega tall towers in Dubai will have observation decks as well.

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre has announced plans to have a 360 degree observation deck on the 700-metre-plus Burj 2020, billed to be the world’s tallest commercial tower.

The Dubai One, set to become the world’s tallest residential tower, will house an observation deck at 655 metres.

The 618-metre Canton Tower, world’s third-tallest structure, is currently home to the second highest publicly accessible observation deck at 488 metres followed by Shanghai World Financial Centre with its Skywalk 100 – a 55-metre-long glass bridge – at 474 metres.